1911 NEED A GRIP SAFTEY?

[epj]

I wouldn't say that I necessarily "need" it, but then again I don't "need" the thumb safety either.
I carry "condition 1", and I sort of like having both safeties there. On my Kimber, the grip safety also releases the firing pin block. I see upsides to having the grip safety, and little downside. For those of you that can't seem to grip the piece properly, pin away.

 

[gunnut315]

I didn't mind having the grip safty on my duty gun but when I was shooting pins the grip safty was pinned I think Austin Behlert pinned all that he built. I had to unpin it for Action Pistol as they have a rule stating all safties must work

 

[M_Harris]

I carry a DA/SA pistol safety off with one in the launch tube. With the DA trigger pull and a good holster I feel absolutely no fear of an AD. I like the 1911, but when I'm carrying cocked and locked, I feel alot better with the grip safety in place. I would feel more nervous carrying say a HK usp cocked and locked like it can be carried in some variants.

 

[G-ManBart]

Originally posted by epj: For those of you that can't seem to grip the piece properly, pin away.

I can grip the piece perfectly well, but I don't have big, fat, meaty hands and with a high thumb grip I often don't activate the grip safety on stock guns even with the largest memory pad made. I can usually sensitize the grip safety enough that it only takes a tiny bit of pressure to disengage, but on all my competition guns I have them pinned. I wouldn't have any problem carrying one without a grip safety or with a pinned grip safety as it's not going to fire if the trigger isn't pressed....carry it in a holster and don't take the safety off until the instant before pressing the trigger and it pretty much eliminates the problem.

JMB didn't think it needed a grip safety, but the Army did. I wonder who knew more about guns?

In fact, if people think that a grip safety is really helpful, they shouldn't be carrying Glocks, M&Ps, or any other service auto that doesn't have one. We recently had an agent have an AD while reholstering his Glock. Somehow the drawstring/cord on his jacket got snagged on the trigger and when he pushed the gun into the holster, it went off. He didn't feel it when the cord snagged...bang and a divot in his posterior was the result!

 

[gmchenry]

Always repair your divot.

 

[RON in PA]

The 1911 was designed by the US cavalry as much as JMB and if they wanted a grip safety they got one. Who are you mere civilians to question the wisdom of the US cavalry?

I find it interesting that when the Poles designed the Radom, VIS1935 they used a grip safety, but then they were a cavalry oriented nation.

 

[Grayfox]

I have 1911s that have beavertails and some with the stock factory grip safety. Never had a problem with either one.
The gun was designed with it, it works for me and I see no reason to change it.
If you have a problem with them, change them. Doesn't bother me a bit.

 

[Farmer17]

I see no reason to not have a well designed grip safety. In the woods, bushes, or jungle if you or someone near you drops a gun and limbs hit the trigger, that could cause some added excitement.

 

[Fuego]

Gentlemen:

In a "best case" scenario, the grip safety is not needed.

Worst case: you are wounded, it is dark, your hands are bloody and slippery, and you are feeling around trying to find your pistol to drag it back toward you. A grip safety is just exactly that: A grip safety.

At the range, in starched utililites, controlled lighting, well rested, supervised by a couple of salty Gunnys, and shooting at a target, you probably do not need a safety at all.

Anybody that pins the grip safety on a 1911 is a fool.

 

[sasu]

Originally posted by Fuego:
Anybody that pins the grip safety on a 1911 is a fool.

That must be the Texas Rangers, then?

In the Guns & Ammo The Complete Book of the Model 1911 magazine (2008) there is an article on Texas Rangers 1911 pistols. Many of them had a leather cord tied around the grip to keep the grip safety down. There are photos from museum displays to prove this.

I guess in those days it did not matter if the gun went off unintentionally. Anyone who got shot probably deserved it anyway.

 

[dennis40x]

Originally posted by Fuego:
Gentlemen:
Worst case: you are wounded, it is dark, your hands are bloody and slippery, and you are feeling around trying to find your pistol to drag it back toward you. A grip safety is just exactly that: A grip safety.

I didn’t need it then why should I need it now?

 

[38-44HD45]

After some thought, I checked "don't care." Personally, I like grip safeties, in that I have had thumb safeties get snicked off in a holster and I've never had trouble failing to deactivate a grip safety. I've also carried a BHP and Detonics Combat masters, and am comfortable enough with them, as well. I've had a couple of 1911s before that required more movement of the grip safety than I liked before deactivation, and I did a little file work to remedy that. It is quite easy to leave them functional, but with only the slightest depression necessary to deactivate.

 

[Guest]

I guess I have to go along with the Original Designer on this one since he dropped the Grip Safety from his later Pistol designs and only adopted the Magazine Disconnector after the Military Board established it as a requirement. Of course, he made it very easy to disable which I think speaks for itself about how he felt about it.

 

[dennis40x]

Originally posted by dennis40x:

Originally posted by Fuego:
Gentlemen:
Worst case: you are wounded, it is dark, your hands are bloody and slippery, and you are feeling around trying to find your pistol to drag it back toward you. A grip safety is just exactly that: A grip safety.

Let me elaborate on my comment concerning the grip safety. The 45 auto issued to me was of your basic vintage with only god knows how much usage. I complained to our battery armory about the function. He simply removed the grips. Taped the grip safety in place with comm-tape and reinstalled the grips. For the remainder of my tour as an artillery scout/observer I used it that way. At the end of my tour I turned it in along with a Winchester 1897 pump shotgun


I didn’t need it then why should I need it now?